Postcards from Venezuela

My name is Dan Trahey. I am a Teaching Artist, Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s ORCHkids, Director of Tuned In at the Peabody Preparatory of the Johns Hopkins University, tuba player with the Archipelago Project, and a community music organizer.

I hope that these postcards will expose my readers to the wonders of El Sistema and help invigorate educators, musicians, administrators, parents, students, and community members through the belief that we can create social change through music. For more information on El Sistema, please visit elsistemausa.org.

I will be in Venezuela from June 13-21, attending workshops, master classes, orchestra concerts, and speeches throughout rural Venezuela. I will be joined by 14 members of The Archipelago Project, a non-profit music education ensemble based in Traverse City, MI and Innsbruck, Austria, and a few very special guests:

• Eli Wirth, Peabody Preparatory, Carroll Community College
• Nick Skinner, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
• Nick Marini, Calvert Hall High School
• Laura “Danger Flute” Stevens, University of North Carolina, Greensboro

Here is a brief description of the planned work in Venezuela:

A barrio in Caracas (click to enlarge)

The Archipelago Project will be in residency at the invitation of El Sistema from June 12 through 21, 2009. A collaboration between Archipelago and Nucleo Acarigua will work to solidify a permanent partnership between these two organizations and create an exchange program between Venezuela, the US and Austria.

This exchange program follows fieldwork done by Archipelago member Dan Trahey on site in Venezuela in the spring of 2008, where he created many professional contacts and solidified local funding for many aspects of the Archipelago residency. Archipelago will be performing for various nucleos in the state of Portuguesa and also in Caracas. Concerts will include music from various cultures but will specifically promote Venezuelan, American, Austrian and German music.

Here is a brief description of the planned work in Venezuela:

Dan Trahey and Venezuelan trombone students (click to enlarge)

Students will work with Archipelago for one week, culminating in a final concert. Aspects of improvisation, practice technique, rhythm, music business, technology, and cultural awareness will be taught during the one-week residency. El Sistema teachers will be present throughout the week to learn different teaching techniques, styles of classroom management, and motivational styles. The residency will also provide an opportunity for Archipelago to study the phenomenon that is El Sistema with the hope that members will implement certain techniques developed by El Sistema into their own educational institutions.

Photo of very young trombonist (click to enlarge)

All of this information will be presented at the Urban Music Leadership Conference in Baltimore, MD from October 22-24. http://umlc.org/

I would like to thank the following individuals for their support on this project: Carolee Stewart, Mark Churchill, Roberto Zambrano, Garrett Mendez, Marin Alsop, The Peabody Conservatory and Preparatory, The Baltimore Symphony, and the dedicated and beautiful children of ORCHkids and Tuned In.

Dan

Sunday, June 13: Greetings from Nucleo Portuguesa, Acarigua, Venezuela.

Dan giving out mouthpieces (click to enlarge)

After a 6 hour ride from the Caracas airport, the entire group has arrived in Acarigua. Our mission in Venezuela is to gather as much first hand information about El Sistema through observation and immersing ourselves into the culture of daily musical work.

97 students have gathered from four separate music schools to participate in a one-week workshop. The students rehearse from 8:00 AM - 1:00 PM and again from 3:00 PM - 7:00 PM. Each day is composed of sectionals, large ensemble, and chamber music (plus many water breaks due to the oppressive heat of the desert).

Dan checking a mouthpiece (click to enlarge)

The student’s playing level varies greatly but every child seems to have a great appreciation and love of music. The children seem very content to rehearse and spend the day making music and socializing with their “teammates.”

The group mentality is absolutely stunning, never more present than when on the stage making music together. The older students of 16-18 years of age are already great teachers and leaders, and take great care in nurturing the younger musicians in their sections.

12-year old conductor (click to enlarge)

We are working on very difficult literature for our final concert. Two highlights for me are Dvorak’s New World Symphony and Richard Strauss’s Wiener Philharmonic Fanfare. The children are attacking the parts with passion and self-assured vigor. There is a sense that the children sweep through the music, not concerned with individual notes or rhythms but concentrated on the entire work of art.

On Wednesday, The Archipelago Project will present a concert at the Ecological Inn, an eco-friendly luxury hotel in Acarigua. We are guests of the Eco Inn because of a generous gift from the owner Jose Antonio Oliveira. Daily siestas have been a perfect place to catch a few relaxing rays of sun, poolside.